A 'fascinating place for geologists': Sudbury Basin still offers up mineral riches after century of mining.

• Author: McKinley, Karen
• Position: Mining

The Sudbury Basin and the surrounding area still have a lot to offer, according to the mining district's geologist.

"The basin has always been a fascinating place for geologists," said Shirley Peloquin, a district geologist with the Ontario Geological Survey at the Willet Green Miller Centre in Sudbury.

"It's still proving to be a very rich place for nickel and other reserves of minerals and this could go on for decades. As demand shifts for other minerals prevalent in the area we are always mapping, surveying and cross-checking with historical data. We are always finding new deposits."

She explained much of the basin and areas to the northeast remain largely untapped. The past focus has been on the easier-to-extract surface deposits.

From a casual viewpoint, it would look like deposits are dwindling, but the opposite is true.

"It looks like there are few mines, but how many places do you know have eight working mines in them? There are many more underground deposits that go deeper than we used to believe," Peloquin said.

"In the past, it wasn't feasible or financially worth it to extract these deposits. As demand rises and falls and technology improves to make it economical, companies are seeking out these deposits.

"As one mine closes, the philosophy is there has to be another mine ready to come online. Any company would like to have more mines, but eight active producing mines are good."

New companies are coming into the district and existing ones are expanding.

"There's the River Valley (PGM) project with New Age Metals that's been going on for a while. They picked up some new ground," she said.

"KGHM is still looking at their Victoria (nickel-copper) Project. Glencore has announced they are looking at the (nickel-copperPGM) Onaping Depth project and weighing when that can be brought into production as well. As their other mines become depleted, they are looking at replacement."

The Sudbury camp keeps yielding resources for mining companies.

In 2016, the basin produced more than $2.5 billion in mineral production. The whole of Ontario produced $10.6 billion. While there are only eight mines, Peloquin said they are significant for the province's mining industry.

Mining has been going on for over a century in the region, with a primary focus on nickel.

While there remain plenty of nickel reserves, the global energy shift from fossil fuels to batteries means minerals like cobalt are being sought.

Sudbury always had cobalt deposits, but it...